Adjustable seat supporting means



March 3 1 1 942.

' T. A. M GREGOR ADJUSTABLE SEAT S PPOR'I'ING MEANS Filed Nov. 5, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. THOMAS .MCGREGO March 31, 1942. MCGREGOR 2,277,927

ADJUSTABLE- SEAT SUPPORTING MEANS I Filed Nov. 5, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q I I INVENTORY i i 5 1;; THOMAS A.McGRE 0R i I I 1' l March 31, 1942. A MCGREGOR ADJUSTABLE SEAT SUPPORTING MEANS Fi led Nov; 5, 1938 3 sheds-sheet s INVENTOR. THOM AS A.MCGREG Patented Mar. 31, 194-2 ADJUSTABLE SEAT SUPPORTING MEANS Thomas A. McGregor, Pontiac, Mich, assignor to American Forging & Socket Company, Pontiac, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application November 5, 1938, Serial No. 238,931

8 Claims.

This invention relates to adjustable supporting I means for seats, and particularly to the supporting of seats of the character used in motor vehicles.

An important object of the invention is to provide improved means whereby seat frames of skeletonized construction, such as those formed of metallic tubing, may be supported upon rollertype supporting means, for ready movement toward the front or rear. Another object is to incorporate in such supporting mechanism improved means for taking up all lost motion between the support and seat, including any accumulated tolerances which may exist in the roller means.

Another object is to provide locking means operable concurrently with such take-up means, and to-so correlate their action that the latter acts to positively clamp the seat and the rollers and other parts of the supporting mechanism rigidly against movement and rattling whenthe locking means is fastened, but is released concurrently with the locking means to free the seat and allow easy movement thereof.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of seat supporting means constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of one end of such supporting assembly.

Figure 3 is a similar fragmentary front elevational view of the same end of the assembly.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective View of the important parts of the locking and clearance take-up mechanism; and

Figures 5 and 6 are sectional views taken substantially on the lines 55 and 6-45, respective-' ly, of Figure l and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings:

It will be seen that the illustrated'seat assem bly comprises a cushion H]. and a back, carried by a back frame l2, pivoted as at l3 with relation thereto. The assembly is adjustably mounted for bodily movement forwardly and rearwardly upon a floor or other supporting platform I5. Similar I assemblies may be provided beneath and to carry tangular.

floor bracket, 26, consists of a channel-shaped sheet metal member, bolted or otherwise fastened to the floor. Between the side flanges of the bracket, rollers 24, 25 are trunnioned, one

located near each end. The rollers are concaved,

to conform in cross-section to the curvature of the tubular bottom rail 21 of the seat frame, which is straight and adapted to travel in the rollers during adjustment of the seat.

Front and rear leg portions 28, 29 extend upwardly from the longitudinal tubular rail 21 to support at its corners the upper frame portion 30, which is substantially horizontal and rec- The rear legs also serve to pivotally support the back frame assembly l2, while the frame portion 36 stiffens the entire assembly and carries, in cooperation with the legs, the cushion-receiving brackets 32,34. The rear cushion bracket 32 is fixedly supported; while the front bracket is pivotally carried by the upper ends of the front legs, being connected thereto by means of a hinge link 35, in such manner that the front of the seat may be depressed by a load thereupon, if the cushion springs are of the longitudinally extensible type. Thus such springs may be used despite the necessity of employing a rigid front rail in conjunction therewith, and comfort is maintained by the freedom of such rail to move downward, preventing interference with the comfort of occupants.

The side flanges of the floor bracket 20 extend above the tubular bottom rail 2'! of the frame, and aligned guide slots 38 in the side webs ofthe bracket support a roller 26, engageable with the upper surface of therail 27. The roller shaft 39 projects through and beyond the flanges,

and tension springs 40 attached to the ends of the shaft tend to draw the roller toward the lower, rear ends of guide slots. The slots are so inclinedthat when drawn toward such end, the roller is wedged against the tube 21, and the latter tightly clamped against the bottom rollers 24, 25, the wedging action being suchas to take up all clearance and firmly holdthe seat and rollers against vertical movement and lost motion. I A cut out opening 45 in the outer flange of the floor bracket 20 is .serially notched along its upper edge, and a tooth 48 carried by a locking arm 5!! is swingable into and out of engagement with such notched edge when moved by its integral upwardly extending handle portion 52. The handle is pivoted on the seat frame, as indicated at 5!.

A cam 55 in the form of a sheet metal memher of inverted U-shape is pivoted at 56 to the floor bracket flanges and provided with angular cam slots 58 also overengaging the ends of the upper rollers shaft 39. The inclination of slots 58 is such that when the cam member is swung downwardly about its center 56, the roller 26 is moved outwardly and upwardly in the slots 38, against the effort of the springs 50, to free the roller from engagement with the tube 2?. A downwardly extending arm 59 carried by the cam member is provided with an integral outturned lug portion 6| underengaging the locking arm 50. It will be seen that the cam member is normally held in raised position by the springs 40, and that the cam member, through the arm 59 and lug 6|, also normally holds the locking arm raised, and in engagement with the notches 46. When the locking arm is moved downwardly, by pulling back on the handle 52, to free the tooth 48 from the notches and allow the seat to roll, the same action also forces down the cam and drives roller 26 to the left and up wardly (as viewed in Figure 1), to free it in the manner described. Conversely, when the locking arm is released, its dogging tooth 48 is not only moved up into holding engagement to prevent the seat from rolling, but the roller 26 is moved to a wedging-clamping position. The springs constantly urge the roller more tightly toward wedged position, and automatically take up clearance and lost motion, so that rattling and unwanted movement of the seat when locked are obviated.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive; reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim:

1. Means for adjustably supporting a seat or the like, comprising in combination with a base, a seat supporting carriage movable over the base, anti-friction rollers interposed between the base and the carriage, locking means including a dogging element movable with relation to the seat to and from a position in which said carriage is positively blocked against movement, wedging means including a member carried by the base and reacting against the carriage and independently movable to and from a wedging position in which it forces said carriage tightly against said rollers and urges the latter against the base to take up clearance between the parts, spring means normally urging said wedging member to wedging position, and means interconnecting said dogging element and wedging member to move the latter out of wedging position in response to movement of said dogging element away from blocking position.

2. Means as set forth in claim 1 in which said wedging member comprises an additional roller carried by and reacting against the base and bodily movable in an angular path which carries it into and from tight engagement with the base, said path being at a wedging angle to the carriage, said spring means urging said additional roller toward such position of tight engagement, said means interconnecting said dogging element and wedging member including operating means carried by the base for moving said additional roller away from said position of tight engagement, said dogging element being movable with the carriage, a handle also movable with the carriage for actuating said dogging element, said dogging element being engageable with the base, said interconnecting means providing a running connection between said handle and said operating means whereby said operating means is operable to actuate said additional roller in a direction away from wedging position, regardless of the position of the carriage, concurrently with release of the locking means, and by means of the same handle.

3. Supporting means for a seat or the like, comprising in combination with a suitable base, a carriage movable thereover, means including a pair of spaced anti-friction rollers interposed between the base and carriage for movably supporting the carriage upon the base, locking means for releasably holding the carriage against unwanted movement along the base, and wedging means for taking up unwanted lost motion between the carriage, base and rollers, including an additional roller carried by the base and reacting against an opposite portion of the carriage to that carried by the spaced rollers, and at a point intermediate said spaced rollers, means for urging said additional roller in an angular direction and into tight wedging engagement with said carriage, and cam means operatively interconnecting said locking means with said additional roller and operable concurrently upon release of said locking means for moving said additional roller away from such tight wedging engagement.

4. Means for adjustably supporting a seat or the like, comprising in combination with a base, a seat supporting carriage movable over the base, anti-friction rollers interposed between the base and carriage, locking means movable to and from a position in which said carriage is positively blocked against rolling movement, wedging means including an element carried by the base and reacting against said base and carriage and movable to and from a wedging position in which it forces said base, rollers and carriage tightly together to take up clearance therebetween, spring means normally urging said wedging element to wedging position, and means interconnecting said locking means and wedging element to move the latter out of wedging position in response to movement of said locking means away from blocking position, said locking means including an operating portion carried by and movable with the carriage, said interconnecting means providing a running connection between said operating portion and said wedging element carried by the base, whereby the latter is actuable by the former with the carriage in any of various positions of adjustment with respect to the base.

5. Supporting means as set forth in claim 3 in which said base includes a pair of substantially parallel upstanding spaced walls, said spaced rollers being journaled in transverse position between said walls, said walls having portions extending upwardly above the portion of the frame which engages said spaced rollers, said additional roller being carried by said walls above such frame portion, said additional roller and cam means being guided in path fixed with relation to the support.

6. Supporting means as set forth in claim 3 in which said base includes a pair of substantially parallel upstanding spaced walls, said spaced rollers being journaled in transverse position between said walls, said walls having portions extending upwardly above the portion of the carriage which engages said spaced rollers, said additional roller being journaled in said walls above such carriage portion, said cam means and additional roller being guided in paths angular with relation to each other, said locking means including an actuating portion carried by the carriage and bodily movable with the same but also movable independently thereof, said actuating portion being slidably interconnected with the cam means for transmitting to said cam means independent movement of the actuating portion without regard to the relative position of the frame and support.

7. Means for adjustably supporting a seat or the like, comprising in combination with a base, a seat supporting carriage movable over the base,

antifriction rollers interposed between the base and carriage, locking means movable to and from a position in which said carriage is positively blocked against rolling movement, wedging means including an element carried by the base and reacting against said base and carriage and movable to and from a wedging position in which it forces said base, rollers and carriage tightly together to take up clearance therebetween, spring means normally urging said wedging element to wedging position, and means interconnecting said locking means and wedging element to move the latter out of wedging position in response to movement of said locking means away from blocking position, said wedging means including an additional roller overengageable with a portion of said carriage and movable angularly to and from the same, to said wedged and released positions, respectively, whereby when in wedged position it forces the carriage downwardly more tightly against the first-mentioned rollers, said means interconnecting the locking means with the wedging element including a cam member for moving said roller away from the carriage.

8. Means for adjustably supporting a seat or the like, comprising in combination with a base, a seat supporting carriage movable over the base, anti-friction rollers interposed between the base and carriage, locking means movable to and from a position in which said carriage is positively blocked against rolling movement, wedging means including an element carried by the base and reacting against said base and carriage and movable to and from a wedging position in which it forces said base, rollers and carriage tightly together to take up clearance therebetween, spring means normally urging said wedging element to wedging position, and means interconnecting said locking means and wedging element to move the latter out of wedging position in response to movement of said locking means away from blocking position, said wedging means including an additional roller journaled in angular guides in said base and movable in said guides in an angular path which carries it into tight engagement with the carriage, said path being at a wedging angle to the carriage, said spring means urging said additional roller toward such position of tight engagement, and releasing means for said wedging means and said locking means, including a common actuator therefor carried by and movable with the carriage.

THOMAS A. MCGREGOR. 

